Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.forbes From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: RANDOM ACCESS COMPUTERS/COMMUNICATIONS Date: Wed, 18 Nov 92 14:52:03 EST Message-ID: "Copyright 1992 Forbes, Inc. Any further reproduction or redistribution without the express written permission of Forbes and ACC is prohibited." RANDOM ACCESS COMPUTERS/COMMUNICATIONS Workflow COMMENTARY BY ESTHER DYSON Esther Dyson is editor and publisher of the newsletter Release 1.0. YOU'VE MET groupware; now meet workflow. A new kind of software is all the rage, pushed by a host of an- nouncements at the NetWorld trade show in October. Ostensibly, the ba- sic reason for workflow is to automate routine work--tasks such as loan ap- plications, customer support and so forth. Workflow controls the flow of electronic work, over a network, from person to person within an organiza- tion or even between organizations. It can automatically route forms, send items around for approval, or collect sales reports from procrastinating salespeople. That's the accepted wisdom about workflow. But in fact we've been automating routine processes for some time; that's what office comput- ing, in its simplest form, is all about. The real promise of workflow sys- tems--and the tools to build them-- is something more than automation. It's flexibility. What really happens is that you automate some process, and then you discover why the automatic proce- dures don't always work as intended. Once upon a time, you would be stuck with the system you ordered. But with a workflow tool you can in principle define the exceptions or de- sired changes in the routine, figure out how to express them and make them routine and automate them, and so on ad infinitum. That is, the real reason for work- flow tools is not to handle the routine, but to be able to define and handle exceptions reliably. The thousands of routine loan applications are easy; the trick is to handle the unusual ones without dropping the ball. The 99 operations that go smoothly can be handled with rigid mainframe-style systems, but it takes a good workflow tool to model the myriad of ways the hundredth operation can go astray-- and how to rescue it. Thus, aside from power and the ability to handle sheer volume, the mark of a good workflow system is flexibility--both in design and in op- eration. It should be easy for users both to build a workflow system with defined ways to handle exceptions, and to change the workflow in re- sponse to changing conditions--that is, exceptional conditions that be- come permanent. In a service-orient- ed world that is moving ever faster, a company that can change its processes as well as its products has a powerful competitive advantage. In action, a workflow software package is invisible; it sits in the back- ground and controls the flow of work. Thus it looks like the spreadsheet your boss is asking you to fill in, or the extravagant expense report you're be- ing asked to approve, the candidate assessment form for the new pilot or the field reports you get every week from your sales team. In its interactive form, where you design or modify a workflow, the software may look like a form with a list of potential addressees, a flow- chart with boxes and arrows you can move around to design a path for the work or a menu with choices to build rules: ''If amount is greater than $2,000, then route to Juan for ap- proval; else, route to accounting.'' So get set for a battle royal between Lotus Development Corp. and Mi- crosoft, with Borland entering from the sidelines next year. Lotus, of course, is the leader in information- sharing groupware with its Notes sys- tem, which allows users to swap memos, circulate revisions to docu- ments and share anything from re- sumes to quality reports or photos of new employees. Notes gives Lotus an edge in workflow, since both are net- work-based applications. Starting next year, Lotus will be selling a new workflow tool, licensed from Action Technologies of Emeryville, Calif., as an add-on to Notes. Meanwhile, Microsoft is the leader in almost everything else. It sees no reason why it shouldn't be the leader in workflow, too. It has most of the necessary system underpinnings, even though it doesn't have Notes to give it legitimacy in the networked applica- tions market. Nor does it really have the proper tools yet: As I suggested, we've always had the ability to build workflow if we really wanted. What's new is the tools to do so easily, so it's possible to respond flexibly and han- dle new situations. Microsoft, so to speak, has bricks and mortar; Lotus has prefab rooms and blueprints. Over the next few months, Lotus will be doing what it can to sign on systems integrators--people who know how to turn prefab rooms into inhabitable houses. Meanwhile, Microsoft will be hon- ing its one-stop-shopping appeal, and trying to position the Lotus solution as nonstandard and risky. What does it all mean for users? Basically, Lotus and Microsoft will be competing hard to lead the market into a new phase, where computers are used as communication and coor- dination tools instead of just as com- puting devices. Think of the software video of the 1980s: Five yuppies sit around a table. One says, ''What if we changed this figure here....'' The graph on the screen magically redraws itself. The video of the 1990s? You see a group of young executive faces, exhib- iting politically correct diversity, around a table. The gang is discussing a merger. ''Now that we've acquired SoftBusters, we have to link them into our customer-support process. When the message comes in, it should go to support first, and then to the SoftBust- ers marketing team....'' The flow- chart magically redraws itself. And of course the workflow code is automati- cally updated. Now SoftBusters will automatically get electronic mail every time a customer complains, and its marketing team can use the feedback in designing new customer support programs--or new products. Workflow could actually make a difference. "This information is the property of Forbes, Inc., ACC takes no responsibility for its content, or the actions of any individual or institution, predicated on the information herin. Forbes Subscriptions are available to students and faculty members at the student/educator rate of $33 for one year, 27 issues. Regularly priced $52. Information about print subscriptions may be had by calling 1-800-888-9896. For further information about the electronic version of Forbes, contact usa@AmeriCast.COM"